Wine & Camembert

Pairing wine with aphrodisiac foods sparked a passionate debate on CTV’s Canada AM. (It’s never to early too think about it … wine, that is.) We’ll match libido-lifting dishes with different wine types to stimulate all of your senses. Many ingredients have historically been considered aphrodisiacs, sometimes because the food physically resembled male private parts (avocados, which according to the Aztecs, grew on the testicle tree) to their female counterparts (oysters and figs). Other foods, such as chili peppers, provoked the fiery passion of love, with its increased heart beat and sweating. Yet other foods may have contained minerals […]

Team member Matt Steeves above, chats about his favourite holiday gift wines on CTV’s Morning Show above. Click the arrow to play. Team member Tania Thomas recommends her favourite holiday sparkling wines on Rogers Daytime Television. Gift Wines to Make Your Holidays Sparkle 1st video Leanne: Well you don’t need to spend a lot to get great wines. In fact when it comes to entertaining often the best wines are some of the least expensive and the most appealing. So here with his top picks and tips on how to serve wine at your holiday party, we have sommelier Matt […]

By Tania Thomas Among the great summertime pleasures are the relaxing patio suppers enjoyed with friends. Often, they are nothing more than a great salad dish, splashed down by a cool glass or two of a crisp summer white wine. Matching wine with salads can certainly present a challenge. Luckily, if you know a few easy tricks, it becomes effortless. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the acid in wine matches or is slightly higher than the acidity in the vinaigrette. With that in mind, a simple tossed green salad with citrusy vinaigrette dressing calls for […]

Sirius XM talk show hosts Christine, Kate and Sharon and I chat about The Great Canadian Wine & Cheese Match in the clip above (click on the arrow to listen) You can also watch clips from CTV News, Global Television, CBC News and CTV Morning Live with more pairings, as well as a radio interview on CJAD, Montreal’s most popular talk show. Matching Cheese and Wine for Entertaining Christine: Hi there, I’m Christine Bentley and I don’t think Kate Millers going to let me say one word here because we are talking about wine with Natalie MacLean. Hi there Natalie! […]

Get tips on pairing Canadian wine and creamy cheese such as Brie and Camembert and where you can buy them from Canadian cheese shops. Find Canadian cheeses in this searchable directory by province or by cheese producer, as well as a complete list of Canadian cheeses. Here’s how to store and serve creamy cheeses. When you nominate or vote for a wine, click on the wine bottle. Then on the wine review page, just click on this link beside the larger wine bottle: “Add My Review” Please share a few thoughts on why you like this wine and cheese combo. […]

Château Palmer By Melissa Pulvermacher Château Palmer is a much-respected winery in the Margeaux appellation d’origine contrôlée in Bordeaux, France. You may recognize Palmer better as one of the classified Third Growths of Bordeaux. Palmer has been known as one of the most popular of this classification and some even argue that its consistent delivery of quality held up against First Growth, Château Margeaux. I was given the opportunity to taste several of the Palmer wines at an organized tasting at The National Club in Toronto, Ontario. After tasting the 2004, 1999, 1995 and 1983 vintages up against one another, […]

You Can Never be Too Rich or Too Creamy By Natalie MacLean Double- and triple-cream cheeses are tough to match with wine because their creamy texture can smother wine and make it taste thin. But who can resist a rich brie, its white lava oozing onto your baguette and its creamy aromas blooming in your mouth? A good match is a robust white, such as a barrel-fermented or barrel-aged chardonnay that has undergone a malolactic fermentation from California, Chile or Australia. Such wines have aromas of vanilla, smoke, toast, and various woods, such as cedar, oak, or pine. Both the […]

Certain pairings in life indicate that the world is a good place: peanut butter and jam, chocolate syrup and ice cream, wine and cheese. The separate ingredients enhance one another: each tastes better together than it would on its own. That’s why I’ve created The Ultimate Guide to Wine and Cheese Pairing, pulling together all of resources on the site, including articles, videos, recipes, wine reviews, wine matcher tool, mobile apps and social media competition. Our passionate community of wine lovers has always been about more than just wine alone: we’re all about enjoying wine with food and friends, entertaining […]

During the holidays, some of us feel the need to indulge our loved ones with lavish meals, while others opt for easy but tasty hors d’oeuvres. Here’s an alternative that offers the best of both worlds: a festive wine and cheese party. By matching fine cheeses with bright, sparkling wines you will create a very special event full of holiday magic. Start the celebrations with a bottle of Domaine Rolet Crémant du Jura, a smooth sparkling wine from France, and a colourful Rumball Coonawarra Sparkling Shiraz from Australia. Their aromas of gingerbread (Crémant), blackcurrant and vanilla (Coonawarra) are perfect for […]

With all the entertaining that goes on during the holidays, you can never have too many recipes. It’s also the perfect time to break out the wow factor and impress your guests. Cheese, especially fine cheese, is an ideal way to add a little something special and make the occasion one to remember. Canadian fine cheese offers a world of recipe ideas, whether you’re looking to build upon a classic or you want to try something completely different. For many, the holidays just aren’t complete without a turkey dinner. That’s why I love this fresh twist on the most festive […]

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BIOGRAPHY

Natalie MacLean

Canada's Most Quoted Wine Writer

Natalie MacLean is editor of Canada's largest wine review web site, publishing hundreds of wine reviews every week for more than 160,000 members. She was named the World's Best Drinks Writer the World Food Media Awards in Australia.

Natalie has published two books with Random House, the second was named one of Amazon's Best Books of the Year. Get access to all of her reviews today by becoming a member of her site.